links broken during a backup (not restore), need more info on how they work to fix file bug with vendor

[vapid vapid]

Hi,

I believe my backup program (CMS ABS Bounceback) is mucking with the links in 
my cygwin and work directories when it is creating a backup.  It doesn't appear 
to affect links created by windows, only those created by cygwin.  I don't 
fully understand the cygwin links: there are some that end in .lnk and are 
close to windows shortcuts, and there are others that don't end in .lnk and 
start with !symlink.  Both get broken.  The files still exist, but I get the 
message /usr/bin/vi: /usr/bin/vi: cannot execute binary file.  vi looks like 
a plain file and contains !symlinkvim.exe.  Running vim works fine.

It happened to me a few weeks ago and wasn't sure why.  I re-installed cygwin  
fixed all the shortcuts in my working/compiled src directories by deleting and 
recreating them.  Is there an easier way to fix this?  I found one post in the 
archives saying try attrib +R, but that didn't help at all, on either kind of 
link.

I've searched the mailing lists and google and wasn't able to find any help for 
my problem.   I know people here will say it's a problem with the application, 
but if I go to the manufacturer they'll say cyg-what(?), our software works 
fine with windows.


Some sample links in /bin, commands executed under cygwin on windows xp.

$ ls -la vi ksh.exe.*
-rwx--+ 1 usd11620 memememe  319 Apr 18 10:24 ksh.exe.lnk
-rwx--+ 1 usd11620 Users 18 Apr 18 08:12 vi

$ attrib ksh.exe.*   
   C:\cygwin\bin\ksh.exe.lnk

$ attrib vi   
   C:\cygwin\bin\vi

$ cat vi 
!symlinkvim.exe

$ ksh
bash: ksh: command not found

$ ksh.exe.lnk
/usr/bin/ksh.exe.lnk: /usr/bin/ksh.exe.lnk: cannot execute binary file

$ cat /usr/bin/ksh.exe.lnk | tr -c [:print:] . 
L..F.P.O.
 
.:i.+00.../C:\...:.1..8D5..cygwin..$8.-.8..c.y.g.w.i.n.0.1..8bin..8...8..b.i.n.B.2.x/n.
 .pdksh.exe.*8...8..p.d.k.s.h...e.x.e.pdksh.exe..pdksh.exe


$ cygcheck -s 

Windows XP Professional Ver 5.1 Build 2600 Service Pack 2

 1829k 2008/04/17 C:\cygwin\bin\cygwin1.dll
Cygwin DLL version info:
DLL version: 1.5.25
DLL epoch: 19
DLL bad signal mask: 19005
DLL old termios: 5
DLL malloc env: 28
API major: 0
API minor: 156
Shared data: 4
DLL identifier: cygwin1
Mount registry: 2
Cygnus registry name: Cygnus Solutions
Cygwin registry name: Cygwin
Program options name: Program Options
Cygwin mount registry name: mounts v2
Cygdrive flags: cygdrive flags
Cygdrive prefix: cygdrive prefix
Cygdrive default prefix: 
Build date: Thu Apr 17 12:11:03 CEST 2008
CVS tag: cr-0x5f1
Shared id: cygwin1S4



-- 
See Exclusive Video: 10th Annual Young Hollywood Awards
http://www.hollywoodlife.net/younghollywoodawards2008/


--
Unsubscribe info:  http://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple
Problem reports:   http://cygwin.com/problems.html
Documentation: http://cygwin.com/docs.html
FAQ:   http://cygwin.com/faq/

Re: links broken during a backup (not restore), need more info on how they work to fix file bug with vendor

[vapid vapid]

 Just tell them that a backup program has no business clearing read-only
 and system attributes on any files.
 
 I would actually expect that they probably are just reading the .lnk
 information and ignoring the cygwin bits.  Even if they preserve the
 read-onlyness of the .lnk file, unless they preserve the file in its
 entirety it won't be recognized.

My issue was that they messed up my disk __during the backup__.  I would
be more understanding if it was during the restore.  There's no reason
for a backup program to modify my harddisk (unless it's keeping status
in its config/log directory).  It should treat my disk as a read
only device.


-- 
See Exclusive Video: 10th Annual Young Hollywood Awards
http://www.hollywoodlife.net/younghollywoodawards2008/


--
Unsubscribe info:  http://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple
Problem reports:   http://cygwin.com/problems.html
Documentation: http://cygwin.com/docs.html
FAQ:   http://cygwin.com/faq/